Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 4 (2011), 410–413. Copyright  2011 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. 1754-9426/11 Work–Family Research Has a Public Relations Problem: Moving From Organizational Nicety to Necessity ANN H. HUFFMAN Northern Arizona University ADRIANE M. SANDERS The University of Memphis SATORIS S. CULBERTSON Kansas State University Kossek, Baltes and Matthews (2011) aptly highlight the disconnect between the sig- nificance of work–family research and the lack of impact it has had on employee well- being and stress the need for ‘‘better and different research’’ to remedy the dispar- ity. We agree with this contention, yet we posit that the problem will not be resolved through the means the authors suggest (e.g., increasing academic – practitioner collabo- ration, focusing on technology, changing existing methodology), as these changes are relatively quick fixes that will only fur- ther mask the core of the issue. Instead, we suggest that the seeming disconnect between work–family research and prac- tice runs deeper within the values of industrial – organizational (I–O) psychol- ogy, organizations, and society. Accord- ingly, we suggest that in order to truly meet the goal of making a significant impact, I–O researchers and practitioners must first believe and promote this topic Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ann H. Huffman. E-mail: ann.huffman@nau.edu Address: Department of Psychology and the W.A. Franke College of Business, Northern Arizona University, Box 15106, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 as an important, relevant, and necessary component of organizational success. The Public Relations Problem: Necessity or Nicety? Work–family research and initiatives, although becoming mainstream, appear to be suffering from a public relations problem. That is, although many work- ers report difficulty balancing their work and family responsibilities (e.g., Tang & Wadsworth, 2010), and despite evidence that work – family conflict is related to nega- tive consequences for both individuals and organizations (e.g., Allen, Herst, Bruck, & Sutton, 2000; Greenhaus, Allen, & Spector, 2006), research involving work – family top- ics do not appear to be wholly accepted by the I–O community. Similarly, initiatives targeted toward work–family balance are often given lower priority within organiza- tions, typically viewed as a ‘‘nicety’’ rather than as a ‘‘necessity.’’ Regarding our first assertion, that work–family research does not appear to be wholly accepted within the I–O community, we point to trends in terms of what seems to get published, and where, noting that work–family research 410